TOW #18 - Editorial: "The beauty, the art, and the good of snow" . . . Ehhh

In this editorial by Emmy award-winning reporter and anchor Tom Foreman of CNN, Foreman discusses the positive effects of all the snow we have seen so far this winter, nationwide. The first positive he mentions was about how all of the precipitation has helped to alleviate the effects of the drought experienced in the west such as damaged farming, decreased tourism, and even reduced city water supplies. To do this, Foreman introduces us to Brian Fuchs who works with the National Drought Mitigation Center. The editorial appeals to logos when Fuchs provides a statistic that states now only 37.5% of the country is considered in drought, as compared to last year’s over 50%. Foreman then says we should consider ourselves lucky in today’s modern society with advanced weather-predicting technology due to the fact that in 1888, there was an unexpected blizzard that swept across the Great Plains and killed over 200 citizens, many of which were children. By pointing out that the majority of lives lost were those of children, Foreman most likely wanted to elicit an emotional response, appealing to pathos. He continues stating positive effects of snow by saying that at the same time as that horrible blizzard in the United States, across the pond in Europe artists such as Monet, Renoir, Gaugin, Pissarro, and Sisley were at work capturing the beauty of all the snow and ice. Foreman brings the conversation back to modern day by noting how badly Russia would currently like to see more snow, as unusually high temperatures in Sochi are beginning to, “turn ski slopes into mudslides.” Finally, he comes to the conclusion that it is ultimately up to one’s own perspective to determine whether all of this snow is a positive, a negative, or both. 

Personally, I found the article ineffective due to a lack of relevant positives related to the snow. Perhaps because I am a 16 year old, providing more positive examples that countered negatives ones, such as the fact that many schools will have to extend the school year due to a high number of closures, would better persuade me to look at the snow as an overall positive. I don’t particularly care that all of this snow once helped European artists paint pretty pictures centuries ago. Nor does it phase me very much that the country has gone form over 50% in drought to only about 38%, which I would still argue is quite a bit. Overall, while this editorial may have been effective to those who more highly value the two examples I previously mentioned, it failed to convince me by unsuccessfully providing positive examples of snow that I find personally relevant.